The Legacy of Bishop Tonyia Rawls

Honor the Legacy. Carry the Work Forward.

For years, Bishop Tonyia Rawls has been more than a leader.

She has been a builder of community, a voice for liberation, and a force for justice across North Carolina and beyond.

As the founder of the Freedom Center for Social Justice, Bishop Rawls helped create spaces where LGBTQ+ people, especially Black and Brown LGBTQ+ communities, could find advocacy, healing, affirmation, and belonging at a time when many were told those spaces did not exist for them.

The truth is simple:
There is no Freedom Center without the legacy Bishop Rawls helped create.

Through faith-rooted organizing, advocacy, education, and community building, her work has impacted countless lives and helped shape movements grounded in justice, dignity, and collective power.

And now, after years of visionary leadership, Bishop Rawls will officially retire from her role at the Freedom Center for Social Justice on June 30, 2026.

Now is our turn to celebrate that legacy properly.

This GiveOUT Day, We Celebrate a Movement Builder

GiveOUT Day is a national day of giving dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ organizations and the people who help sustain them.

This year, we are dedicating our GiveOUT Day campaign to honoring Bishop Rawls and everything she helped build.

But this campaign is about more than looking back.

It is about making sure the work continues.

Your support helps sustain:

LGBTQ+ advocacy and organizing
Faith-rooted justice work
Community education and leadership development
Healing-centered spaces for marginalized communities
The future of the Freedom Center for Social Justice

Because legacy is not only what someone leaves behind.
It is what we choose to continue.

Help Us Honor the Legacy

Donate today and help carry the work forward.

Every contribution helps ensure the Freedom Center can continue shifting culture, building power, and changing policy for years to come.

Together, we celebrate the legacy.
Together, we sustain the movement.